Table 3 Quotes from participants

Q 1 '...you got some information about a few things, statements, that you recognized and was relevant to you...I guess it (the treatment program) gave me something...The material you read, it made you, it started something. Something new' (Participant 8).

Q 2 '.. I think I've realized that I'm kind of, I realized that I'm kind of lazy, by nature, one likes to take shortcuts, and perhaps not do the things you really ought to do. It might feel difficult or you can easily put these must-remember thoughts aside. I have realized that it's really easy to do that. If you got an assignment that made it clear that one should do so and so, then it might feel difficult, it was interesting though...but still, it felt difficult ' (Participant 8).

Q 3 'Yes, I got rid of that thing (laughter). Well not really, I stopped doing all those assignments....it was kind of a relief when it was over' (Participant 4).

Q 4 '...you tried to register what you did at every moment. What you thought and how you felt. And I tried to do it regularly during the day, both at work and home.... When you write it down, it forces you to put your thoughts into words. And there's something positive about that, when you write it down, it's almost like doing it, and then you can go back and look at it' (Participant 2).

Q 5 'I sometimes thought it was hard, that it was tough...I suppose, if it was a good day I got it (treatment assignments) done (laughter)' (Participant 12).

Q 6 'When you had read something, for example the night before, then you tried to practice it the following day, and you put effort into it. For example every little action that you did, you try to think why am I doing this...And it was a lot of work, until you could practice it on a more unconscious level' (Participant 9).

Q 7 'I sometimes feel it would be good for me to do the week (with behavioural activation) again' (Participant 10).

Q 8 'Yes, I guess it was that week (with behavioural activation), after all, I think, because it was tough, and it was noticeable, made me so aware...' (Participant 10).

Q 9 'Yes, it's important for me that I'm able to show someone what I've accomplished, and get some kind of response, someone who expresses his or her opinion. I guess, you get some kind of assurance or something like that. That's not what happened here' (Participant 8).

Q 10 'I felt guilty because I didn't do all the assignments (laughter). Yes, it became an extra burden, so I felt like, this is not what I really need' (Participant 4).

Q 11 'Put simple, I couldn't find time for it (the treatment program)' (Participant 4).

Q 12 '...someone to talk to, I think that would have motivated me' (Participant 12).

Q 13 'I felt like I couldn't control it, it became something of a burden that was added to me, you could say that it created anxiety, one more thing that I couldn't do or complete, that I promised to do' (Participant 2).

Q 14 'Of course, much of what I did, I did because I promised to do it (the treatment program) and then I felt like I had to do it' (Participant 2).

Q 15 'I think it was important for my self-esteem. To feel that I did it on my own, like I was able to do things' (Participant 6).

Q 16 '... if you needed to consult someone about something there was someone there. If I needed, I could choose to take contact' (Participant 5).

Q 17 'You felt like, I feel fine now, why should I continue (with the treatment)' (Participant 9).

Q 18 'The expectations were probably higher than the outcome' (Participant 8).

Q 19 'Although it wasn't what I expected, or whished for, but that had a lot to do with me....I still believe it's a concept that works' (Participant 4).

Q 20 'Some part of me was all the time scared like, to work with it, I don't know...I don't think it was the material that frightened me...What if it goes out of control?' (Participant 7).

Q 21 'I don't believe in going to a "shrink", like the Americans do, right, I don't believe in that. But...if you feel bad, and if I'd find myself in some kind of crisis or something, right. Then I believe, or I know, that this is a good model to help you through a crisis. When a depression appears I know that this is a good model' (Participant 1).

Q 22 'I sometimes find it difficult to sit down and talk to someone, who'd try to understand me, and this way I got to work with myself...in a completely different way' (Participant 5).

Q 23 '...perhaps, it has affected me, without my knowledge. But, I can't think on any specific part, that I'm thinking about, that I'm using' (Participant 4).

Q 24 'I gave up after a while and I guess I thought: There's no purpose of me sitting here doing this, it's not going to make a difference anyway' (Participant 11).

Q 25 '..And in that way I've become more aware of how strange I sometimes think and how that affects my mood and I've become better on thinking other thoughts' (Participant 12).

Q 26 'Actually, the treatment program could have made a larger impact than it did, but I guess that's because I was too scared to work with it, I didn't use the material enough...' (Participant 7).

Q 27 'Perhaps I should look at it (the treatment material) some more... At least it's not uninteresting, it's educational....I kind of see it as a course, a course that you should look at some more, because when you think of it, it wasn't that bad' (Participant 7).

Q 28 'It feels like I've regained the ability to take control of my life' (Participant 10).

'It (the treatment program) has meant a great, great deal to me in several different ways. Personally I feel a lot better, and then also, at work too, I work in, as a nurse ... So I used it both in my work and on my self' (Participant 1).

Q 29 'I don't feel that it's overwhelming, it's much and it's though, but you always know that you're going to get through it' (Participant 9).

Q 30 'That's why I now look at depression and feeling down as a natural thing, which happens to people...' (Participant 9).